Waddy



(No Model.)

W. O. THOMSON.

WEIGHING SCALE. No. 376,925. Patented Jan. 24, 1888.

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- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVADDY O. THOMSON, OF CAMDEN, SOUTH OAROLIN WElGHlNG-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 376,925, dated January24, 1888.

Application filed May 25, 1887. Serial No. 239,389. (No model.)

To allwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WADDY G. THOMSON, of Camden, in the county ofKershaw and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Weighing-Scales; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of thisspecification.

The object of my invention is to furnish a V weighing apparatus of greatefficiency and capacity with but few parts and of economicalconstruction.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following description.

, or box, so that at every sliding or shifting of the same one end ofthe beam shall project more while the other end shall projectcorrespondingly less beyond the point of suspension; and anotherpeculiarity is thatthe weight by which is to be ascertained the weightof the article being weighed is not only a constant, but is permanentlyfastened to one end of the sliding beam. Thus no removable weights orset of weights are required or used, and there is no possibilitytherefore of the single weight employed becoming either lost or mislaid.

. A represents a box open at both ends, and

v in which snugly fits a slide beam or bar, 0.

B is a buffer or stop-piece on top of the box, D a hanger bywhich'thewhole apparatus -is suspended when being used, and E a similarhanger pendent from the box and serving to hold the articles to beweighed.

F is a-fixed and predetermined weight permanently fastened to oneextremity of the Kisa fixed stop or buffer on the underside of,theslide-beam and hear the larger weight, F, and a is a projecting portionof the bottom of the box extending in a direction toward the buffer K,and serving to limit the sliding movement of the beam 0 when moved tothe left, so that when K and a are in contact the scale-beam shall be inequilibrio, or hang at a level, when no object is being weighed. Thisprojection a also affords a means for attaching thereto one or morefixed indices or pointers, Z, and which, when the parts a and K are incontact will indicate the zero-point of the graduated scale on the beam;and it also affords ample room for convenient handling and pushing in orpulling out the beam without cramping the fingers, and without risk ofdisturbing the pointer or pointers, while at the same time distinctlyexposing the zero-point to view.

The bars I J, excepting at their projecting extremities, are madedovetailed or triangular in cross section, as shown, and are insertedlengthwise-that is, are pushed in endwise into correspondingly-shapedgrooves made,respectively, in the top and bottom of the box at appropriate places therein. Their form thus prevents their being pulledout by any downward strain or stress of the articles being weighed,inasmuch as the width of the groove is materially lessat its mouth thanat its opposite side or base. These bars I prefer to make of steel orhardenedsteehwhile the box itself may be made of any suitable metal orother material. In some cases, if desired, the bars I J and theircorresponding grooves in the box may be dispensed with, and instead theprojecting extremities a: for the hangers may be made integral with thebox or cast in one with it.

When made separately and inserted in the grooves, the bars I J aresecured in position by screws j or any other suitable fastenings.

The buffer B may, if desired, be made separately from and then fastenedon top of the box, or it may be cast or made integral with it and withthe bottom projection, a. It is formed with a recess or open space inits top,as shown, of such depth thatits parts I) and b at the sides ofthis recess will arrest and limit the downward swing or tilting of thebeam and box by bringing one of these parts b and 1) into contact withthe cross-piece of the upper hanger,D.

In the normal position of the parts, the slidebeam being pushed to theleft as far as it can go, the pointer indicates zero, the beam hangshorizontally, and the tips of the parts I) and b are equidistant fromthe cross-piece h of hanger D.

I prefer to make the hangers D and E each of three pieces, namely: oftwo side pieces (markedin Fig. 2 as d,those of Ebeing marked 6) and ofthe already-named cross-piece 71, and each of these side pieces has atits free end a slot or opening, at or 6 respectively, to receive thebearing ends of the crosspieces I and J, and the bearing parts of theseslots should be curved or rounded, that the apparatus may always hangcorrectly with respect to these hangers. These side pieces, (1 and e,respectively, are preferably provided with small holes (1* to receive ashouldered rod, 19, screw-threaded at each end for connecting togetherthese three pieces, nuts being applied to the threads of the rod, andthey are also preferably made with slots or mortises (Z and 6 into whichthe ends of the cross-piece h enter.

The poise F is designedly so shaped as to project both above and belowor at opposite sides of the slide-beam to which it is affixed. It thusaffords a handle easily grasped whereby the beam may be pushed in orpulled out of its box or support.

The projection a on the box, besides serv ing as a stop and as a meansfor attaching an index hand or pointer, also performs another importantduty, to wit: it forms a continuation of the lower bed or support onwhich the sliding beam rests and moves, and consequently materiallycontributes to keeping the beam in its proper normal position parallelwith the bore of the box, and thus preventing its being tiltedrelatively thereto, and thereby binding against the upper edge of thelefthand mouth of the bore or opening of the box, and correspondinglyagainst the lower edge of the right-hand month.

Each hanger D and E has an appropriate hook, m or m, the one forupholding the apparatus when in use and the other for hanging thereonthe articles to be weighed. I prefer to attach the hook to the upperhanger, so that the whole apparatus may swing around on it;

and to do this a simple and effective way is to make a verticalholethrough the part It large enough to insert the shank of the hook looselytherein, and provide this shank with screw thread or threads and withnuts m, one above and one below this cross piece or part h.

It will now be seen that the beam is not fulcrumed or pivoted, but thebox is; that no detached or removable weights are employed, a single andfixed weight being used instead; that a short beam, even with thissingle weight, is efficient, because upon sliding one end of the beamand its weight F farther out from the box the leverage at that end ofthe beam is proportionately lengthened or increased, while the leverageand weight of that part of the beam at the opposite side of the box areproportionately shortened or diminished. Every shifting of the beam,therefore, produces a double effectthat is, the effect which wouldresult from merely lengthening practically one arm of the beam-lever bythe shifting of the same is proportionately added to or doubled by thecorresponding shortening of the other arm of this lever-beam.

My improvements are applicable to a great variety of scales orweighing-machines.

I claim- 1. In combination with the beam 0 and the box in which the sameslides and the hanger D, a buffer, B, surmounting said box and providedwith the upward projections b 12 serving with the hanger as stops tolimit the swing of the beam, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. In combination, the box, the buffer B, having the stops 1), b, and a,and the sliding beam having the fixed weights F and G at its respectiveends, allsubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In combination with the hangers D and E, the box A, provided withdovetailed grooves, the cross-pieces I J, made dovetailed, as described,and fitting in said grooves, and provided at their ends with edgesserving as bearings for said hangers, all snbstantiall y as shown anddescribed.

4. In combination with the box having the stops 7) b at its top and theprojection a atits bottom and a pointer on projection a, a beam havingthe fixed stop K, serving to limit the sliding movement of the beam andto insure the bringing of the pointer to the zero-point.

5. In combination, the box with its stops 1) b and projection a, thehangers D and E, the sliding non-fulcrumed scale-beam weighted, as setforth, and provided with the stop K, and the pointer Z, allsubstantially as set forth;

\VADDY O. THOMSON.

Witnesses:

WILL 'I. NoRToN, N. G. GIBsoN.

